Launch it yourself¶

This brings up the exact database every example in this documentation queries, then runs rel against it from source. It needs Go and Docker (running, to host the database container) installed locally — nothing else.

The quick way¶

The checked-out repo has a justfile that wraps every step below into a few commands:

git clone https://github.com/rel-server/rel.git
cd rel
just test-db-fresh   # tear down, bring up Postgres, migrate, seed — leaves it running
just test-run        # builds and runs rel against it, on :8080

just test-db-psql opens a psql shell into the same database if you want to look at the schema or the seeded rows directly; just test-db-down stops and removes the container.

The manual way¶

The same steps, without just — useful if you don't have it installed, or want to see what each step actually does.

Clone the repo and fetch its dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/rel-server/rel.git
cd rel
go mod download

Start a throwaway Postgres container:

docker run -d --name rel-test-db \
  -e POSTGRES_USER=hotel -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=test -e POSTGRES_DB=hotel \
  postgres:16-alpine

Apply the schema (Database reference is the same schema this creates) and seed it with fake data:

export DATABASE_URL="postgres://hotel:test@localhost:5432/hotel"
psql "$DATABASE_URL" -v ON_ERROR_STOP=1 -f test/hotel/schema.sql
go run ./test/seed "$DATABASE_URL"

The seeder (test/seed/main.go) is a fixed-seed Go program, not a SQL script — every run produces the same data: a handful of chains and properties, ~200 guests, ~500 bookings, and a few hand-picked rows worth referencing directly (a guest with no bookings at all, a property with no reviews, a three-level manager chain in hotel.staff).

Build and run rel against it — REL_PG__URI is the same connection string as $DATABASE_URL above, rel doesn't read DATABASE_URL itself:

REL_PG__URI="$DATABASE_URL" go run ./cmd/rel

rel is now serving on :8080 — see Getting started for a first query against it.

Building a binary instead of go run¶

go run ./cmd/rel compiles and runs in one step, rediscarding the binary afterwards — fine for poking around, wasteful for anything you'll run more than once:

go build -o rel ./cmd/rel
REL_PG__URI="$DATABASE_URL" ./rel

There's no separate go install-able module path yet — building from the checked-out repo, as above, is the only supported source build. See Run it manually for downloading a prebuilt binary or running rel from its published Docker image instead of building it yourself, or Docker deployment for a realistic production setup.